As I sit here writing this, I’m in the record/cocktail lounge drinking a negroni. One of the owners, who makes the best cocktails west of the Mississippi River and dresses like the guys from Wayne’s World, is sponsored by Buc-ee’s, and I was discussing the comings and goings of the food scene in town. In town we have this amazing thing called the Beer-muda Triangle: three breweries offering live music and welcome breaks from Busch Light and Stag. The owners and bartenders of these breweries are here with us in our conversation. Topic of the day: how best to support the city’s monthly First Friday, a pub-crawl-meets-art-exhibit of sorts.
These guys working together is nothing new; they will collaborate with other businesses and each other to introduce novel ideas. For example, two of these breweries do not have food service licenses. To save on costs, they will keep restaurant menus and you can order directly from them, add to your tab, and get the food delivered a few doors down. Talk about a win-win-win! The brewery doesn’t have to pay the expenses and the kitchen bill, and they get to keep your butt on the seat. I don’t have to leave to get food and I have one building to deal with. The restaurant does not need to pay the cost and liability of the liquor license and they can continue to sell their food to people who are not even on the premises! These types of partnerships are good ways to compete and still complement each other.
Competition is often considered a cutoff. Firms can use the political process to protect themselves from competition or target their rivals. For example, The Wright Amendment of 1979. Repealed in 2014, the Wright Amendment was a federal law governing traffic at Dallas’s Love Field. Enacted after Southwest Airlines refused to leave the Love for Dallas-Fort Worth airport, it prohibits any airline from operating a transport-class aircraft with more than 56 seats to anywhere beyond Texas and surrounding states. (American Airlines, Southwest’s biggest competitor and based in the DFW area was founded, of course.)
As I sit sipping my cocktail I gather these thoughts in my head. Who said competition should be limited and hostile? At the end of the day, everyone around me is competing for my hard-earned entertainment dollar. However, here, they are fully aware of their competition and want to create their niche. It seems absurd that they would be here, effectively undermining their competitive edge; However, these guys understand the environment in which they work. They can’t compete with macro-breweries and chain restaurants on price, but they can on variety. This more diversity creates more wealth; not just for the Beer-muda Triangle, but for all of us. We have so many new options and experiences available to us to spend our money on. Working together, but with themselves at heart, these guys compete, collaborate and build. In a world where open and honest competition is in short supply, it is encouraging to see that at least in our own small space a complete critique of the world around us will still play a role.
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